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Joe McQuaid's Publisher's Notebook: Behind the scenes with John Kasich

John Kasich dropped by the Union Leader offices last week. Colleagues either (a) wanted to be photographed with him or (b) sign up for his campaign or (c) asked me if he had told me if he’s running.

I was (a) hurt. How come these folks never want their picture with me?

I was (b) hurt. Don’t they like working here?

And (c) flattered. People think the former Republican presidential candidate would confide his plans to an old guy in New Hampshire when he hasn’t told Drudge or Axios or BuzzFeed or the Bratwurst Bugle?

Kasich is the governor of Ohio, where he has done a good job. I know this because a lot of people in Ohio say so, and my brother-in-law, who lives there, says the opposite.

Before that, way back when he was a kid, Kasich was one of the Republican congressmen who actually passed a balanced budget, worked with a Democrat President to eliminate a big deficit, and did it without spending our grandchildren’s money. (That came later.)

So, in confidence and please don’t tell this to anyone, he asked me two important questions.

I also picked the precise location that the Chinese satellite would hit when it fell back to earth last week. Don’t believe the stories that it disintegrated over some ocean.

It actually landed near Cremeland on Valley Street in ManchVegas where it will be put to good use this summer as jimmies on your ice cream. Provided, that is, that we actually get a summer this year.

Before summer comes, a reminder that April 15 is the deadline for the first Brodsky Prize, to be given to budding journalists from Manchester. Information is available at https://thebrodskyprize.com.

While I would never win such a prize, I am confident that the staff here at the Union Leader, Sunday News, and UnionLeader.com would have made a great run at it had it been around earlier.

Every day, and night, often under considerable pressure, people here professionally sift, vet, and verify facts and then cogently and concisely turn them into stories and advertising that can help inform your day and perhaps even improve it.